Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Has $106.41 Million Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,544 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,007 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.25% of MSCI worth $106,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,108,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in MSCI by 26.4% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,811 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,548,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.9% during the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 28,489 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,207,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,008,745,000 after buying an additional 109,287 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 335,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,653,945.73. This represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE MSCI opened at $556.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $566.62. The company has a market capitalization of $41.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.51 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $659.00.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.